Videos

Janet Stickmon was named 2023's Distinguished Professor by her university. She takes great pride in working with her students. She has created CenterJoyPWR: Strategies for Healing Racial Battle Fatiguean online experience for professionals of color who want to center joy in their lives. But before …

Enola Garland found her way into the classroom as an early childhood educator. She quickly realized that working with three and four-year-olds was what she was meant for. After years in the ECE space and with COVID-19's impact on her students, colleagues, and herself along with racism-related stres…

Nedra Rudolph is one of thousands of educational professionals that many of us see but never truly SEE. Having worked in Title 1 schools, as a Dean of Students, a paraprofessional, and a family liason. These professionals are categorically invaluable, and grossly undercompensated. She had a g…

Well, its time for me to tell my Exit Interview story. On the last day of school in 2018, I threw my work i.d. in the garbage can in front of the middle school where I had taught for six years. I didnt know what was next, but I knew I had to get the hell out of there! Listen as Kev, our producer Ge…

Jacci tells us her story of coming full circle. With her love for whom we in education consider as littles, she tells her journey as a childcare center owner who, with a heart for doing more for her community, begins her work as a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Director in a Denver Metro Area organ…

Branta Lockett moved through her educational odyssey at the highest levels. W.E.B. DuBois would have absolutely drafted her for his Talented Tenth All Star Team. Highly Gifted and Talented, International Baccalaureate, Brown University, she brought her sterling credentials to Denver, hoping to be t…

Arvian Harper is a Denver Public Schools lifer. A graduate of the hallowed halls of East High School, she received a full ride engineering scholarship, later changing to pre-med. Like so many of us, she heard the call to the classroom, and she heeded, teaching Early Childhood Education, becoming a …

After a turbulent year locally and nationally, Dr. Asia Lyons and Kevin Adams are back with your Back to School shopping list. They break down issues facing educators of color and the communities they serve as super-producer Gerardo Muoz sits in the virtual producers chair! Asia discusses life afte…

When a former director of equity in a school district joins our podcast you know its gonna be good. Stacey Brandon shares what led her to become a social worker in a Denver Metro school district, her journey to becoming director of their equity department, and consequently the decision she had to m…

Another fire episode! This time we are speaking to Dr. Jeanette Patterson, a former principal who now finds herself supporting the youth of the Denver Metro Area in a whole new way. Tune in as Dr. Patterson shares her education journey, what she thinks school districts can do to support educators, …

Since last season, we have brought you stories that are heart-wrenching, painful, and traumatic. Examples of racial battle fatigue, professional violence and PTSD, which, even though most have experienced a measure of healing, or begun that healing journey, are difficult. In some cases, Black clas…

Kevin and Asia listen to Crystal Gillis story. From leaving the classroom to facilitating and developing youth voice and leadership at YAASPA, her story is informative and impactful.

Scholar, Author, Entrepreneur, and Educator Desmond Williams has been there, done that. A talented and effective classroom teacher, he quickly moved up the ranks to building leadership. But even as a principal, Desmond was not achieving the impact he wanted to. He found himself in frequent conflict…

On December 21, Denverite broke the story that legendary community leader and Montbello/Far Northeast Warriors Coach Tony Lindsay, Sr. would not be invited back to coach football for the newly reunified Montbello High School football program. Despite a winning record that included a recent state ch…

Michael Diaz-Rivera was a brilliant and respected teacher with a reputation for empowering and inspiring his Black and Latinx students. He rose quickly to prominence for his unapologetic radical love for his community and our children. A frequent advocate and organizer for his professional associat…

Asia and Kevins interview with Dr. William Smith of the University of Utah was so saturated with wisdom that we brought him back for a part II! In this conversation, Dr. Smith shares his wisdom, doing a deep-dive into Racial Battle Fatigue. He discusses a litany of topics, including his rebuttal o…

Equity is the goal for nearly every diverse school district in the country. As the ripple effects of generational trauma and systemic oppression continue to be felt in communities of color, especially Black and Brown communities, districts like the Denver Public Schools have created positions and o…

This is a real special episode of the Exit Interview! Asia and Kevin talk with Dr. William A. Smith, professor of Education and Ethnic Studies at the University of Utah. Dr. Smith, who developed some of the most profound research around the concept of Racial Battle Fatigue, shares his research, ins…

Welcome to Episode 4 of the Exit Interview with Asia Lyons and Kevin Adams! This week we hear Shalelia Dillard share her story. It is a similar refrain for Black educators who have experienced institutional alienation and rejection within the education system. We invite you to listen and take in h…

Being a Black educator in the American system of schooling will test the faith of the strongest. In this powerful episode, Doctoral candidate Donna Druery (who has her defense the day after this episode!) shares the long journey through education that ultimately ended with her departure. She shares…

Analise Harris embodies Black genius, Black ingenuity, and a resilience. Always socially conscious and connected to her community, Analise entered the education system through alternative means after studying sociology in college. Having worked with the NAACP and other advocacy organizations, we in…

The Exit Interview premiers with the story of Sataira Douglas. When she came into the teaching game, Sataira was a highly regarded rising star in teaching. In a profession that struggles to recruit, let alone retain, Black teachers, Sataira was sought after by multiple school districts. The situa…

Does Langston K. Jacobs story sound like something you or your family is experiencing? Racial Battle Fatigue can cause you to think that something is wrong with you when it's really the space in which you work or go to school slowly trying to pick away your humanity.

Janet Stickmon was named 2023's Distinguished Professor by her university. She takes great pride in working with her students. She has created CenterJoyPWR: Strategies for Healing Racial Battle Fatiguean online experience for professionals of color who want to center joy in their lives. But before …